Contracting Opportunities
Now let's get a better picture of where the government spends its money.
Fiscal Year 2005 (10/1/04-9/30/05)
Total Federal Actions and Contract Dollars |
| Agency |
Actions |
Dollars |
| DoD |
1,407,343 |
$273,347,720,502 |
| Civilian |
1,343,864 |
$110,900,000,000 |
| Total |
2,751,207 |
$384,247,720,502 |
As you can see, there are two basic areas in which the government spends its contract dollars: the Department of Defense (DoD) and civilian agencies, such as the Department of Veteran Affairs and Department of Justice. And, as you can also see, the government contracted for almost $385 billion in products and services in fiscal 2005 alone. Based on the numbers, it looks like DoD is the biggest opportunity, but remember that many of the dollars went toward major systems and thus to larger companies.
Next let's look at what small businesses have done for the same period.
Fiscal Year 2005 (10/1/04-9/30/05)
Small Business Government Contracting |
| Noncompetitive |
Restricted Competition |
Open Competition |
| $20,425,676,363 |
$20,602,512,126 |
$22,724,176,281 |
*These figures do not add up to the total figure of $141 billion because they do not reflect buys for under $25,000, which are automatically reserved for small businesses.
As this graph shows, small businesses, overall, did very well at over $141 billion. It also shows that businesses that can be classified as small disadvantaged businesses (SDB) or women's business enterprises (WBE) have a lot of room to grow.
It is also interesting to note that one-sixth of the total dollars awarded to small business (i.e., $22.7 billion of the total $141 billion) was received in open competition. In other words, the little guys and gals beat out the big ones for $22.7 billion in government contracts. Not a bad return for the effort!
And how many small businesses were new to the game? In fiscal 2005, a total of 8,881 small businesses received their first federal contract with the government. These businesses were either women-owned or disadvantaged-owned, and were split almost 65/35 between female and male ownership.
Who Are the Government's Big Spenders?
Here's the top ten government agencies looking for contractors in fiscal year 2005.
| Top Ten Federal Agencies |
| Agency |
Contract Dollars |
| Department of Defense |
$273,300,000,000 |
| Department of Energy |
$ 23,000,000,000 |
| NASA |
$ 14,500,000,000 |
| General Services Administration |
$ 13,900,000,000 |
| Department of Homeland Security |
$ 10,400,000,000 |
| Department of Veteran Affairs |
$ 9,000,000,000 |
| Department of Health & Human Services |
$ 8,000,000,000 |
| Department of State |
$ 5,400,000,000 |
| Department of Interior |
$ 4,700,000,000 |
| Department of Justice |
$ 4,000,000,000 |
| Top Ten Totals |
$366,200,000,000 |
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Work Smart
Another useful web site for information on government contracting is Win Government Contracts. This site can help you to navigate some of the government's databases or to find a PTAC counselor near you.
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